Graham Dwyer trial jurors assured of their anonymity

The jurors in the trial of Graham Dwyer have been assured that their identities will not be published, following a query from the jury foreman about the publication of his name.

The jury will resume its deliberations tomorrow morning, having failed to reach a verdict after almost five hours spent considering its verdict in the trial for the alleged murder of Elaine O’Hara.

The five women and seven men began their deliberations on Wednesday and returned to the Central Criminal Court yesterday for the 45th day of the architect’s trial.

The foreman handed in a note to Mr Justice Tony Hunt as soon as the court sat.

It contained a jury request for some of the exhibits in the case but it also queried his privacy.

After reading the note, the judge told the foreman that he appreciated his desire for privacy but said that he had to speak to him by name. He later asked the foreman if it was of some personal concern to him and the foreman nodded.

The judge addressed the foreman again in the afternoon, after acquiring ‘the assistance of the parties’.

“The place where your name appeared has been contacted and has agreed to remove all traces,” he said.

He told the jury that, strangely enough, the Juries Act didn’t have any provision for such a protection, but said that any jurors engaged in such important work should be allowed to approach their ‘difficult and delicate tasks’ without such concerns.

“I’ve made an order there’s to be no publication of anything to do with any of you,” he said, addressing all 12 members.

The jury had earlier requested all the knives in the case and a number of other exhibits to be made available in the jury room.

The trial heard that two knives were found in the basement of Mr Dwyer’s workplace in February 2014. A rusty blade had been found at Killakee when Ms O’Hara’s remains were discovered the previous September. Knives were also found in Vartry Reservoir in Wicklow around that time.

The members also asked for a runner and tracksuit bottoms found near Ms O’Hara’s remains and a spade found elsewhere at Killakee. A backpack, hoodie, white vest and a bondage mask found in Vartry Reservoir were also requested

They were provided with these but were not given a letter about smoking that had been found in Mr Dwyer’s home.

The judge explained that it was a letter from Mr Dwyer’s son, Sennan McShea, to his father, but that it was not in the case because it had not been shown to Mr McShea in the witness box.

The jurors had deliberated for a total of four hours and 55 minutes before going home for the evening. They will resume their deliberations this morning.

Mr Dwyer is charged with murdering Dubliner Elaine O’Hara at Killakee, Rathfarnham, Dublin on 22nd August 2012, hours after she was discharged from a mental health hospital.

The Cork-born father of three of Kerrymount Close, Foxrock in Dublin has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 36-year-old childcare worker on that date.

Ms O’Hara was last seen in Shanganagh, South Dublin that evening. It’s the State’s case that Mr Dwyer took her up the Dublin Mountains to Killakee and stabbed her to death for his sexual gratification.

A cause of death could not be determined when her skeletal remains were discovered at Killakee on September 13th the following year.